Collection of the Civil Registers and Metrical Books of the Governorate of Suwalki

Collection description

Holding institution (official language):: Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas

Title:: Collection of the Civil Registers and Metrical Books of the Governorate of Suwalki

Title (official language):: Suvalkų gubernijos civilinės būklės aktų ir metrikų knygų kolekcija

Creator/accumulator:: Chancellery of the Roman-Catholic Diocese of Sejny (Augustow)

Scope and content:: The collection includes the vital records of residents of the governorate of Suwalki. Most are Christian (Catholic, Evangelist-Lutheran, Orthodox and Old Believers), but some records of Jewish residents are also present. Other more general documentation can also be found in the collection: official letters, circulars and manifests received by various parishes throughout the governorate, administrative files and copies made from civil record books, chiefly those of marriages.

Jewish vital records are listed in the inventories numbered 1-6, 11, 24, 26, 29 and 30, covering the period 1808-1914. Until 1826 all birth, marriage and death records from all residents of the governorate were entered into a single book written in Polish. A few entries from the early 19th century mention Jewish residents. Often only the given names and patronymics of Jewish residents are listed, without surnames.

From 1826 onward birth, marriage and death records of Jewish residents were registered in separate annual books containing complete data on the residents, including occupations, addresses and parents’ names.

Archival history:: The current collection was transferred to the Central Historical Archives of Lithuanian SSR (predecessor of the current State Historical Archives) in August 1960. In 1966 the collection comprised 35 inventories. In subsequent years several inventories were removed from the collection as books of vital records were transferred to the newly created collections of certain parishes including Krosna, Miroslavas, Skriaudziai and Veiveriai.

Until 2008 the collection's title referred to the Chancellery of the Roman Catholic Diocese, but this title did not fully reflect the collection's content and was replaced with the current title.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Roman Catholic diocese of Wigry was established in 1798. In 1818 the seat of the diocese was moved to Sejny, and it was renamed the Sejny (Augustow) diocese. The diocese ceased to exist during the interwar period and its area is now divided between Poland and Lithuania. The diocese was in charge of the Roman Catholic religious activity throughout the region, supervised old and new parishes and controlled church property in the region.

Subject terms:: Christianity
Vital records
Vital records--Birth records
Vital records--Death records
Vital records--Marriage records

System of arrangement:: The collection consists of 28 inventories arranged in subject/chronological order.

Finding aids:: For online data see the Lithuanian archives' website. More detailed inventories in Russian are available at the Lithuanian State Historical Archives. A geographical and subject index (in Russian) was created in 1992. In 2007 a name and geographical index (in Lithuanian) with an introduction (in Lithuanian, Russian and English) was created for all Jewish vital records kept in the archive, including the records from fond no. 1236.

Links to finding aids:: https://eais-pub.archyvai.lt/eais/faces/pages/forms/search/F3001.jspx

Yerusha Network member:: Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Author of the description:: Galina Baranova, Lithuanian State Historical Archives, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2014